I am proud & honored to have been endorsed by the F.A.N.S. of Goleta (See below email).

Friends,

F.A.N.S. of Goleta (Friends And NeighborS of Goleta) is sending you this email because we think it is of interest to people concerned about the future of Goleta. Below you will find our endorsement in the Santa Barbara County Sheriff June 5 election that affects all Goleta and SB County residents. Please forward this email to your friends and family.

F.A.N.S. of Goleta is pleased to announce our endorsement of Lieutenant Eddie Hsueh (pronounced Shway) for Santa Barbara County Sheriff in this June 5 election. In his 32 years with the SB Sheriff Department, he's learned the job from the bottom up, not the top down. Please consider forwarding this message soon to as many people as you can, because mail-in voting has already begun.

This election really matters to Goleta residents because the Sheriff's Department has a direct impact not only on Goleta's safety but also our budget, as Goleta contracts with the Sheriff to serve as Goleta's police. About half of Goleta's discretionary budget is spent on public safety services.

Eddie has the best qualifications to serve as Sheriff:

- He currently serves as the Police Chief for Solvang and Buellton and also oversees law enforcement services at the Chumash Reservation.

- In addition to his vast range of experience in patrol, community services, SWAT, and administration, he has over 2,700 hours of formal training in California Police Officer Standards and is a graduate of the Sherman Block Leadership Institute. He has trained Academy recruits as well as new officers and is responsible for initiating Crisis Intervention Training Program for County officers in order to de-escalate stressful situations and reduce the need for use of force. He co-wrote the Arrest and Control Instructor's Manual for the Sheriff's 80 hour certification course. He initiated a program for Sheriffs to mentor at-risk youth.

Eddie's priorities are:

- Increasing public trust by focusing on community policing to help deter and solve crimes. He supports California law that keeps immigration enforcement the job of federal immigration authorities. Our local officers depend on people not being afraid to report crimes and act as witnesses.

- Pursuing fiscal responsibility, especially by not filling our jails with people who need help with mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness issues. He also favors bail reform so people deserving of bail are not locked up longer than necessary, simply because of their challenging financial capacity. And he seeks to reduce the burden on taxpayers by pursing regional sharing of expensive equipment such as helicopters and armored vehicles to.

- Reducing the tremendous, wasteful and long standing mandatory overtime costs resulting from high personnel turnover and poor recruiting, as just pointed out in the recent grand jury report.

Eddie is endorsed by The Democratic Party of SB, Democratic Women of SB, Ethan Bertrand, Board President of the Isla Vista Community Services District, many social justice leaders and individuals who support reasonable legislation such as the Gun Violence Restraining Order, Senate Bill 54 on sanctuary cities, bail reform, and many others.

Eddie is running a grass roots campaign and will be outspent by the 2 other candidates. We encourage you to please forward this message as soon as possible, because Election Day is only about 18 days from now and mail-in voting has already begun.

I hope you can join me in a FUN-RAISER in Santa Ynez Valley this Sunday, May 20 at 4pm. The event will include wine and appetizers. We will be holding a Mock Political Trial. So please join us for some fun and laughter. I truly appreciate all the support I have received form so many people in the Santa Barbara Community!

I want to thank both the League of Women Voters both in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria for hosting the recent forums of the candidates. It's important for the voters to know the candidates and what they stand for and what they don't. I'm sure it's clear by now that I am the only Democratic Candidate. I have progressive values such as supporting SB 54- Sanctuary State and do not believe in reporting people to ICE for minor crimes. As a sheriff’s department we need people to trust us and model equality for all.

I also am the only candidate that supports the Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) and testified (as requested by Senator Skinner) in Sacramento as a Civilian. I believe in sensible gun laws such like the GVRO which gives both the sheriffs department and family members the tools to remove guns from people who are dangerous to themselves, dangerous to others or both.

In addition I initiated a unit entitled the Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU), which helps law enforcement receive the essential training about mental health and substance abuse signs and symptoms. The training also provides the officers with the techniques needed to deescalate (slow down and use critical thinking skills) a crisis situation which decreases the need for the use of force, This training makes a difference in our community as family members inform me of their wanting more officers trained in these skills known as Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) This is just a few of the many ways I differ from my opponents.

As a resident, who grew up in Santa Maria and has dedicated 32 years to keeping the public safe, I regret to say that our Sheriff's department needs a leadership change to face our mounting public safety challenges. That's why I'm running for Sheriff. From patrol to training recruits and leading crisis intervention training to being the Police Chief for Solvang and Buellton, my experience, training and energy are what's necessary to lead our department into the 21st century.

First, we must increase public trust in our department. Our department's mission is to protect the public, not do the job of immigration enforcement. I support the California Law that directs our department NOT to report undocumented people with minor, non-violent offenses, to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for two major reasons. One, we need undocumented residents to be willing to report crimes and come forward as witnesses. And two, we need our officers to focus on local crime, not be diverted doing ICE's federal job. To keep jail costs and overcrowding down, we must avoid using our jails as ICE holding areas.

And regarding public trust, we need more training on dealing with high stress situations and people with mental illness, education about the Gun Violence Restraining Order, and on the use of force. The crisis invention program I implemented three years ago trains officers on de-escalating these situations and coordinating with social service agencies to help those affected and our personnel deal with such issues.

Second, we need to make our department more effective without increasing the taxpayers' burden. We must modernize our electronic reporting system. According to the DA's office, 50% of cases are prolonged due to the Sheriffs’ office delay in providing essential information. When arrest reports are late, the DA seeks a continuance. Then people waiting to go to court are kept in jail longer, increasing both jail overcrowding and operational expenses.

I'd also pursue cost sharing with regional partners. For example, we should create a REGIONAL Dispatch Center. In addition to reducing costs, this would improve communication between agencies and result in faster response times and enhanced public safety. We should also share expensive equipment such as helicopters, armored vehicles and other specialty vehicles. This would not only save the initial purchase costs, but also the ongoing expenses such as personnel, maintenance, and depreciation.

A third, related priority is reducing our distressing attrition rate. A recent HR report showed that in 2016, 74% of officer separations left for other agencies. In 2017, 72% went to other agencies. In 2018 we are poised to be even higher. Even now we have over 50 unfilled positions, which require our personnel to work overtime and creates job fatigue.

Losing valued personnel increases our recruiting and training costs, increases overtime expenses and causes stress on personnel. It robs us of valuable experience vital to keeping the public safe. By improving work conditions and recruiting, I'll reduce employee attrition and increase community safety.

Every resident and Sheriff's Office employee needs and deserves a Sheriff who is a leader, not a politician. You deserve a leader who has the experience and determination to make the changes necessary to meet our fiscal and operational challenges, without asking taxpayers to dig deeper. And you need a Sheriff who has an open door policy, willing to listen to residents, department personnel and our County Supervisors who are making difficult budgetary decisions.

With mail in voting starting now and leading up to Election Day on June 5, I ask you for your vote. Together we will make our community stronger and safer.